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Do you remember? We needed to be tough on them, those countries who didn’t have their budgets in order. The Greeks? A bunch of parasites. The Portuguese? Hold them accountable. The Irish? Let them solve their own mess. Cause rules are rules, right? The fun we had about the Belgians, with their Guiness Book of Records formation which lasted 541 days. Five hundred forty one. Hilarious, wasn’t it? And the Italians, ever so funny. First the fall of bunga bunga Berlusconi, then a deficit that only the Greeks could beat. We were laughing our pants off, safe and sound behind our dykes.
No, then The Hague. After cabinets Kok II, Balkenende I, II, III and IV, now also PM Rutte managed not to make it to the finish line. Six cabinets in hardly ten years time. Quite an accomplishment, right? Not many could pull that off. Not even the Belgians.
They must be having a good time now, down South, watching the water reach our lips, even in the Dutch polder. The best boy in class failed the test. I can hear the Greeks chuckle already.
And we already weren’t looking that good abroad either, were we. We had the Polish hate site. The fuss about our Queen’s headscarf. The mess around the Turkish President’s visit. No, it wasn’t running smoothly, Holland Inc’s marketing machine. Back in the day, I used to be proud to say I’m from Holland. Nowadays, I sound a lot less convinced. Yes, I am ashamed. Not that Wilders’ imaginary friends Henk and Ingrid give a damn. They are still safe and sound behind those dykes, pretending nothing is wrong. With one finger in the hole, it has to be said. Cause that beautiful polder of ours, it could flood in no time. And who will save us then?

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2 Responses to “Best boy in class”

It does amaze me how in the past three years since I lived in Holland, it has gone from a progressive haven from the craziness of the right to a much more conservative place. I remember how, just three years ago, Wilders was a joke. I guess that wasn’t so funny after all…

Having said that, our second most popular republican for president, Rick Santorum, is against birth control, a college education, any choice for women, separation of church and state, and any level of taxation. So, just remember that you can never be as crazy as the good ole’ U.S. of A. Yeehaw!

Indeed, Holland seems to have changed while we were sleeping.. Hopefully the people will wake up in time for the new elections, which are likely to take place this Fall. Wilders now seems to count on the support of the senior part of the population, whom he failed miserably during the last term. In fact, he gave up on his pension demands within less than a day of negotiating last time around.
But you are right though, when it comes to craziness, the good ole’ U.S. of A. beat us hands down 🙂